LAS Science 10 Week 8
LAS Science 10 Week 8
LAS Science 10 Week 8
I. OBJECTIVES:
1.Describe the seafloor spreading process;
2. Identify evidence of seafloor spreading; and
3. Determine the importance of the seafloor spreading process relative to the Continental
Drift Theory.
II. MATERIALS
paper, ball pen, Map of Ages of Oceanic Lithosphere, diagram of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and
Oceanic Crust
II. PROCEDURE:
1. Get a clean sheet of paper to write down your answers and observation.
2. Examine the thick line in the map below that crosses from Northern to Southern
hemispheres. The line represents the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is the longest and the
most extensive chain of underwater mountains on Earth.
Note: The colors in the map indicate the ages of the oceanic rocks per million years.
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3. Answer the following questions. (Place your answer on a separate sheet of paper.)
Q1. What type of plate movement or boundary is happening in the Mid Atlantic Ridge?
Choose your answer from these types of plate boundaries: convergent, divergent,
transform fault
A: Divergent fault/boundary is the type of motion or boundary arising in the Mid-
Atlantic Ridge
Q2. What molten material will come out from the ridge?
A: Lava is the molten substance that will pour out of the ridge,
Q3. What can you say about the ages of the oceanic rocks near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge?
A: Around the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the ages of the oceanic rocks are younger than
the oceanic rocks further from them.
Q4. What can you say about the ages of the oceanic rocks far from the Mid-Atlantic
Ridge?
A: The ages of the oceanic rocks further away from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge are
older than those closest to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
4. The figure below shows the cross-section of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Oceanic
Crust.
Q5. What can you say about the thickness of the sediments near the ridge? Choose
your answer: thicker or thinner
A: Sediments along the ridge is has a thicker thickness
Q6. What can you say about the thickness of the sediments far from the ridge?
Choose your answer: thicker or thinner
A: Sediments along the ridge is has a thicker thickness
Q7. What can you say about the density of rocks near the ridge? Choose your answer:
denser or less dense
A: The rock density near the ridge is less dense
Q8. What can you say about the density of rocks far from the ridge? Choose your
answer: denser or less dense
A: The rock density near the ridge is denser
5. Analyze the diagram that shows the Earth's magnetic polarity. The numbers indicate the
ages of the oceanic rocks in a million years, while the legend represents the normal-
reverse polarity.
Q9. If magnetic reversals are recorded in the seafloor, what kind of rock is the seafloor
made? Note: Materials rise and flow from the mid-oceanic ridge. The material that
makes up the seafloor contains magnetic materials such as iron. These solidified
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irons in the seafloor can act like a little compass needle and follow the Earth's
magnetic field.
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Q9. If magnetic reversals were made from the seafloor, what kind of rock is the
seafloor made?
A: Volcanic Rock is the type of rock that the seafloor is composed of.
Q10. What does the magnetic stripes pattern represent?
A: The pattern of magnetic stripes portrays rocks
Q11. Is the magnetic stripe pattern on each side of the Oceanic Ridge equal?
A: Yes, On either side of the Ocean Ridge, the magnetic stripe pattern is similar
Q12. Are the ages of rocks on each side of the ridge the same?
A: Yes, The ages of the rocks are equal on either side of the ridge. Both of them
are older and they are further from the ridge.
6. The diagram below shows the movement of oceanic crust in the MidAtlantic Ridge and
the different geologic processes involved.
Q13. If new ocean floor is being formed near the ridge, what will happen to the old
oceanic crust materials? Note: recall lesson on types of plate boundaries.
A: The old oceanic crust materials will be forced back to the subduction
region if the current ocean floor is produced near the ridge and the new ocean floor
will sit on top of it.
Q14. What is the importance of Seafloor Spreading in understanding the origin of the
plate movement?
A: It's crucial that Continental Drift Theory helps to understand it. It speaks
of lithospheric plates and how they function.
Q15. If the seafloor is spreading, is the earth also getting larger and wider as plates drift
away from each other? Why or why not?
A: When plates migrate away from each other, the earth does not become
bigger and broader, because plates often collide with each other. The older oceanic crust
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continues to be pulled down, pushing it back down to the mantle of the Earth. Recycling of
plates might occur.
SUMMATIVE TEST
____ 1. What has become the accepted main cause of seafloor spreading?
a. Density differences in the crust.
b. Convection currents within the Earth’s mantle.
c. Formation of magnetic striping along the seafloor.
d. The huge weight of seafloor sediments piled up over millions of years.
____ 2. Why do you think most scientists disagreed with Wegener’s idea of drifting continents?
a. He had come up with a lot of bad decisions in life.
b. He was not able to provide an explanation as to what would make the plates move.
c. He was thought to have mental problems.
d. He had too much evidence.
_______4. Which of the following was NOT used as evidence to support the theory of continental
drift by Wegener?
a. the existence of convection currents c. the similarity of fossils found on continents
b. the close fit continental coastlines d. the matching of glacial scars on different
continents.
____ 5. If the seafloor is spreading, is the Earth also getting larger? Why or why not?
a. No, because gravity prevents the Earth from growing.
b. No, because old ocean crust is subducted and melted.
c. No, because the rocks undergo erosion and withering.
d. Yes, because new seafloor is being created.
____ 7. According to Seafloor Spreading Theory, where is the actual site of tectonic activities?
a. continents b. mountains c. oceans d. valleys
____ 8. Using the Seafloor Spreading Theory, where does less dense materials from below the
earth’s crust rise to?
a. trenches b. fault lines c. mid-ocean ridge d. continental crust
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____ 9. What will happen to the ocean if subduction is faster than seafloor spreading?
a. disappears b. expands c. shrinks d. widens
____ 10. What is the driving force for the movement of the lithospheric plates?
a. heat from the sun
b. unequal distribution of heat within Earth
c. heat in the atmosphere
d. unequal distribution of heat in the oceans
II. True or False. Write TRUE if the statement is correct and FALSE if it is not.
________1. The theory continental drift states that millions of years ago a supercontinent once
existed and broke into smaller continents which drifted away from each other.
________2. The theory of continental drift explains the geologic fit of some continents such as
South America and Africa.
________3. The Earth’s magnetic field periodically reverses its polarity.
________4. The German meteorologist Alfred Wegener proposed the Seafloor Spreading in 1912.
________5. The Seafloor Spreading provided an explanation about the movement of lithospheric
plates.
________6. According to Seafloor Spreading, the ocean is the actual site of tectonic activities.
________7. The Theory of Continental Drift was proposed by Harry Hess with collaborative efforts
from Robert Dietz.
________8. One evidence that continents are drifting is the presence of different animal fossils at
different continents.
________9. As rocks cool, they become denser and sink.
________10. Convection current is characterized with less dense materials from below the earth
crust rising towards the surface causing plates to move sideways.
CONCEPT: EVIDENCE OF PLATE MOVEMENT
Have you seen a world map before? Definitely, yes, you have seen one! Did you notice that
the eastern border of South America and the Western part of Africa seem to fit together like a big
jigsaw puzzle?
In 1912, Alfred
Wegener
(pronounced as vey-
guh-nuh r), a
German
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meteorologist, proposed a theory that about 200 million years ago, the continents were once one
large landmass. He called this landmass Pangaea, a Greek word which means “All Earth.” The
figure below shows how Pangaea evolved into how the continents look today. This Pangaea
started to break into two smaller supercontinent called Laurasia and Gondwanaland during the
Jurassic Period. These smaller supercontinents broke into the continents and these continents
separated and drifted apart since then. Is this idea somehow true? If you lived during Wegener’s
time, will you believe him?
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Possibly the most important fossil evidence found in the plant, Glossopteris. The
Glossopteris fossil is found in Australia, Antarctica, India, South Africa, and South America—all the
southern continents. Glossopteris seed is known to be large and bulky and possibly could not
have drifted or flown across the oceans to a separate continent. Therefore, the continents must
have been joined at least one point in time in order to maintain the Glossopteris' wide range
across the southern continents.
3. ROCK EVIDENCE. Existing mountain ranges separated by vast oceans
contain rocks of identical mineral content. A prime example is the Appalachian
Mountains in the eastern U.S and the Caledonian Mountains in the British Isles.
4. GLACIAL SCARS. Glaciers carve rocks and leave marks as they move. In this
evidence, scientists can
determine the direction of
movement of each continent. It
was found that similar scars were
present in different continents.
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In the early 1960’s, scientist Harry Hess, together with Robert Dietz, suggested an
explanation to the continental drift. This is the Seafloor Spreading Theory. According to this
theory, hot, less dense material from below the earth’s crust rises towards the surface at the mid-
ocean ridge. This material flows sideways carrying the seafloor away from the ridge, and creates a
crack in the crust. The magma flows out of the crack, cools down and becomes the new seafloor.
Overtime, the new oceanic crust pushed the old oceanic crust far from the ridge.
In the place where two oceanic plates collide or where an oceanic plate and a continental
plate collide, a subduction zone occurs. As the new seafloor is formed at the mid-ocean ridge, the
old seafloor farthest from the ridge is destroyed at the subduction zone. The rate of formation of a
new seafloor is not always as fast as the destruction of the old seafloor at the subduction zone.
This explains why the Pacific Ocean is getting smaller and why the Atlantic Ocean is getting wider.
If subduction is faster than seafloor spreading, the ocean shrinks. When the seafloor spreading is
greater than the subduction, then the ocean gets wider.
The Seafloor Spreading Theory contradicts a part of the Continental Drift Theory. According
to this theory, continents moved through unmoving oceans and that larger, sturdier continents
broke through the oceanic crust. Whereas, the seafloor spreading shows that the ocean is the
actual site of tectonic activity.
Magnetic Reversal
Seafloor spreading was strengthened with the discovery that the magnetic rocks near the
ridge follow a pattern aside from the fact that rocks near the ridge are remarkably younger than
those father from the ridge. Rocks of the same age in the seafloor crust would have taken on the
magnetic polarity at the time that part of the crust formed. A magnetic compass can tell direction.
The needle of a magnetic compass usually points to the North Pole of the Earth, which is actually
the South Magnetic Pole at present. The Earth’s magnetic field is generated in the very hot molten
outer core and has already existed since the birth of our planet. The crystalized irons in rocks
found in the seafloor act as a magnetic compass that can tell the Earth's magnetic field direction.
Magnetic reversal is also called magnetic ‘flip’ of the Earth. It happens when the North
Pole is transformed into a South Pole and the South Pole becomes the North Pole. This is due to
the change in the direction of flow in the outer core. Magnetic reversals happened many times in
the past. The occurrence of magnetic reversals can be explained through the magnetic patterns in
magnetic rocks, especially those found in the ocean floor. When lava solidifies, iron bearing
minerals crystallize. As these crystallize, the minerals behave like tiny compasses and align with
the Earth’s magnetic field. So, when magnetic reversal occurs, there is also a change in the
polarity of the rocks.
Magnetic Reversal 8
Over the last 10 million years, there has been an average of 4 to 5 reversals per million years.
New rocks are added to the ocean floor at the ridge with approximately equal amounts on both
sides of the oceanic ridge. The stripes on both sides are of equal size and polarity which seemed
to be mirror images across the ocean ridge. What does this indicate? It indicates that indeed, the
seafloor is spreading.